an inspector calls review

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Introduction

An Inspector Calls - Post 1914 Drama At first, 'An Inspector Calls' appears to be a straight forward detective thriller. Then there's a interruption during a dinner party by an inspector who announces young Eva Smith's death. It then comes clear that each of the family members is connected to Eva; this turns the play into a "whodunit" enticing people into the play. The audience then want to know who is guilty of causing Eva's death this is getting them more and more involved in the play. Priestly uses a typical thriller structure like withholding important information and using dramatic devices like 'cliff-hangers' to get the audience involved and to maintain their interest. An Inspector Calls is a play based in 1912 but it was written in 1946. This play could be interoperated as a modern morality play, this is because all of the Birlings are guilty of committing one of the seven deadly sins; whether that be pride, sloth, envy or lust, each and every character is guilty. The inspector appears to then be showing them these mistakes, in hoping that they will learn from them. This is only successful from some of the Birlings however. The inspector then goes on to warn people in his final speech by saying "will be taught it in fire and anguish." A modern audience would see this as a reference to the imminent war, but it could also be interpreted as a reference to the punishment of hell in the medieval morality plays. ...read more.

Middle

This then makes the audience believe that Mr Birling might be responsible throughout the play as he seems to notice nothing but himself. This would have had an impact on the audience of 1947 onwards as it shows how narrow minded Mr Birling is. Eva Smith is viewed very differently from all of those in the Birling family and from Mr Croft. However throughout the play you wonder if Eva Smith is a real person, this is because the photograph is shown to each person individually; meaning the inspector could have different photographs to show each person, also the surname 'Smith' was a very common surname of that time, this could also make you believe that Eva is not real. Then when the inspector goes on to mention Daisy Renton you get a little more suspicious, is this the same person using another name as the inspector states? Or is she a totally different person that only Gerald Croft has got to know? This makes you ask yourself many questions drawing you into the play. "like a lot of these young women she used more than one name." this is showing us that Eva Smith is also known by other names however it could just be the inspector making it up due to the arrangement of the photographs he showed each of the family members, the girl they thought was Eva Smith could have been different girls. Therefore it is unlikely that any one of them actually is dead. ...read more.

Conclusion

the interruption at the door then interrupts his speech making Mr Birling angry, the interruption then becomes more annoying to Mr Birling as it is an inspector who ends up grilling him and his family for the rest of the night making them revealing the sins they have committed. This again links in with the medieval brutality that the play is based on; you also start asking yourself questions like, why on this night of celebration would someone want to turn up and inform the family of a suicide? Furthermore, at the end of the play there is another interruption as the phone begins to ring. This happens just after Gerald discovers that there is no such inspector named Goole. So as Mr Birling asks the so-called inspector named Goole to wait in a room on his own the police ring to inform them of the death of young Eva, this makes the family buck up their ideas and gives them the chance to get their story straight as they have been through it all before. Thus, Priestly makes a very bold statement of the fact that many people in 1912 suffered similar things to Eva Smith. This then makes you see that Eva was grateful for her job as would many other young women be in that day of age, thus making you feel sympathy for her and making you get involved in the play. Priestly also uses this opportunity to show how the different classes of 1912 lived, showing that some people just didn't have the luck they needed to have a nice life in those days. ?? ?? ?? ?? Rhys Laidler ...read more.

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